Welding

[NBaff]

I am starting to restore/build up my cherokee. I am wanting to do most of the work myself. Are the any books/classes that can teach me how to weld. I want to be able to weld most things on my jeep.

[Lindel]

Lot's of each, most colleges, and junior colleges have welding classes, all kinds of books, and internet welding sources.

[Zac]

I am sixteen and I taught myself to weld. The best welding book I found was the Haynes Welding Manual. There are many choices of welders to buy and lots of times it gets confusing. I chose an arc welder because it will weld many diffrent types of metal. I also chose an arc welder because it is very reasonably priced. Mine can weld 1/4in steel on the first pass and it only cost $219. Many people say mig welders are better but I disagree because the do the same job as arc welders except they cost alot more.

[sloop]

There are lots of pros and cons for arc or MIG. The $200 225amp Lincoln arc welder can easily do 1/4" but doing sheetmetal with it is a joke - I've never been able to successfully do any sheet metal welding with mine. I have a small Century 80 amp flux core (wire-feed like MIG except no gas) that I use for sheet metal work, and leave the stick welder for bigger stuff.

[Merc69]

If you have to work on sheet metal IE: floors, doors and other such that has a tendency to rust out go with MIG. It is the easiest to learn with. I had a gentleman hand me a spoolgun and point me at a pile of aluminum scrap (.063) and then tell me not to burn any holes in it and then let me at it. 16 gauge steel is a snap compared to that blasted aluminum.

A Miller, Lincoln or Hobart 175 amp will do most anything you would want to do on your rig. Get a welder, a book and then a lot of scrap and play until you can run a bead. A good auto-darkening shield is a god send (just don't have my own yet) :(

Good luck

[Jeeptruck]

I would check into a class at Wake Tech. I took a class years ago I think it cost me $75 and walked away with loads of stuff I built for one of my CJ all built with free metal.....Man those were the days

[Aaron]

I bought a Hobart Handler MIG welder a year or so ago. After I bought a cart, bottle, and helmet I was around $600. I think thats about the minimum your gonna spend to get a good quality MIG outfit. I was lucky and had a friend who is a good welder help me set it up and gave me some lessons, but MIG welding is pretty easy to figure out on your own. I've heard the Italian made MIGs that harbor frieght sells work pretty well, and they are about half the price of a hobart or lincoln.

[irbob]

I have a millermatic 175 w/gas. It was pricey, at least compaired to and arc welder but I'm really happy with it and glad I spent the extra money. If you want an all arround welder then mig is the only way to go. There are a bunch of books (search ebay) out there and take a course to get you going if the book thing isn't for you. Truthfully the books that come with a new welder would get you going in a pinch.

[BigChief]

Do not buy the blue welders from Harbor freight, they have a short duty cycle and will give you a headach. Buy a smaller welder from Sams or Home depot like someone had mentioned, get one that will run with or without gas so you can start off sheap and upgrade later. Lincoln, Marquette, Miller, Solar,Hobart are all good welders.You can usually pick up a used stick welder for @$75 from the paper or swap meets. That expensive auto darkening helmet does make things a lot easier too.